Winding machine



Jan. 23, 1962 Filed Nov. 2, 1959 R. P. RICE, JR 3,018,062

WINDING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Hill!" amp 43 F/G INVENTOR.

ROGER P RICE, JR

ATTORNEYS Jan. 23, 1962 Filed Nov. 2, 1959 R. P. RICE, JR

WINDING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. ROGER P RICE, JR.

his ATTORNEYS tat Patented Jan. 223, 196.2

York

Filed Nov. 2, 1959, Ser. No. 350,451 9 Claims. (Cl. 242-50) Thisinvention relates to wire winding devices and, more particularly, to anew and improved machine for winding wire on a frame to provide closelyspaced parallel wire strands on both sides of the frame.

in storage devices for magnetic recording systems wherein a largequantity of information is to be stored for random access, for example,the numerous strands of magnetic wire forming the storage elements ofthe system must be located in close proximity on a storage frame toprovide maximum information storage in a small space. At the same time,these strands of magnetic wire must be held with a predetermined tensionin precisely parallel relation and properly spaced so that theinformation on any wire can be read by a magnetic transducer movable ina straight line without interference from the adjacent wire. One suchstorage frame is disclosed in the copending application of Moe andParks, Serial No. 721,124, filed March 13, 1958, and assigned to thesame assignee as the present application. Although wire might be woundon a frame in this manner by a manual operation, this would be anarduous task and it would be impossible to assure proper Wire tensioningon frames wound by hand.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide awinding machine capable of winding wire on a storage frame in a desiredmanner.

Another object of the invention is to provide a machine of the abovecharacter capable of winding wire to provide closely spaced parallelstrands on a storage frame.

A further object of the invention is to provide a wire winding machineof the above character capable of providing uniform wire tension to allstrands on a frame.

These and other objects of the invention are accomplished by providing arotary frame support having wire guides movable along the ends of aframe mounted in the support as the support is rotated. One of theseguides directs the wire around an end of the frame from one side to theother without any lateral shift in wire position along the end of theframe, while the other guide is an ranged to shift the wire laterally bya predetermined amount as it passes around the other end of the frame.Also, a wire feed device spaced from the rotary support is movable inthe same direction as the guides and slightly ahead of them in responseto rotation of the support. Wire is supplied to the feed device from abraked supply spool arranged to provide the desired wire tension and awire feed compensator interposed between the feed device and the supplyprevents tension variations which would otherwise be caused by thevarying rates at which the wire is drawn on to the frame as the supportis rotated.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from areading of the following description in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a view in elevation partly in section illustrating a typicalwinding machine arranged according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is an end view of the winding device shown in FIG. 1 lookingalong the axis of rotation;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged partial sectional view taken on the line 3-3 ofFIG. 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 1 andlooking in the direction of the arrows.

In the representative embodiment of the invention i1- lustrated in thedrawings, the winding machine comprises a base plate 1t) whereon avertical support member 11 is mounted, a horizontal drive shaft 12 beingmounted on the vertical support member for rotation by ball bearings 13and 14. At one end, the drive shaft 12 carries a drive wheel 15 which,if desired, may be driven by an electric motor 16 through a drive belt17.

At the other end of the drive shaft, a rectangular frame support plate18, which is affixed to the shaft so that the axis of the shaft bisectsthe longitudinal dimension of the plate, carries two clamps 19 and 2tenabling a wire support frame 21 to be secured in coplanar relation tothe frame support plate along the outer longitudinal edge of the plate.To this end, as best seen in FIG. 3, each of the clamps 19 and 2tconsists of a block 22 movable toward and away from a shoulder portion23 of the frame support plate by rotation of a clamp screw 24 to embracea foot portion 25 of the frame member, thereby securing the frame to theplate. Preferably, a locating pin 26 is. mounted in the edge of theplate 18- to position the frame cent-rally with respect to the axis ofthe shaft 12 while the clamps are set.

Two wire guide support arms 27 and 28 pivotally mounted on blocks 29 and30 forming lead nuts at opposite ends of the support plate 18 are urgedby a spring 31 toward the end legs 32 and 33 of the frame 21 to hold twowire guide members 34 and '35 in position against the outer edges of thetwo end legs, respectively. in order to move both wire guide members 34and 35 along the end legs as wire is wound on the frame, thus spacingthe wire strands by a predetermined distance, the blocks 29 and 3b aredriven by lead screws 36 and 37' mounted in recesses 38 and 39 atopposite ends of the support plate 18. These two screws are driven bytwo planetary gears 49 and 41, respectively, each meshing with a sungear 42 which is rotatably supported on the drive shaft 12. The ratio ofthe planetary gears 4-6 and 41 to the sun gear 42 and the pitch of thelead screws 36 and 37 are selected so that with the sun gear heldstationary one rotation of the shaft 12 and the mounting plate 18 causesthe blocks 29 and 3t and the wire guides 34 and 35 to movelongitudinally along the end legs 32 and 33 a predetermined distanceequal to the desired wire strand spacing and, in the example describedherein, this distance is 0.020 inch.

Wire 43 to be wound on the frame 18 is supplied from a supply spool 44rotatably mounted on the support member 11 and geared to a conventionalbraking device, such as a hysteresis brake 35, which is adjustable inthe usual manner to provide and maintain any desired wire tension. Fromthis point, the wire 43 passes over a fixed pulley 46 through a pulley47 mounted on a compensating device 43 described hereinafter and overtwo more pulleys 49 and So, which are in line with the pulley 46 and thesupply spool to a wire feed member 51 which is positioned to hold thewire 43 against the guide members 34 and 35 as the frame member 21rotates. Preferably, the wire feed member 51, which has an aperture 52to direct the Wire 43 toward the frame member 21, is movabletransversely with respect to the frame member, in conjunction with theguide members 34 and .35 so that the wire need not approach the guidemembers at a sharp angle with respect to the mounted orientation of thewire strands but, at the same time, is always maintained against theguide members 34. and 35. Accordingly, the feed member 51 comprises alead out mounted on a lead screw 53 which is rotatably supported on theplate 11} by two brackets 54 and 55.

At one end, the lead screw carries two rotatably mounted sprocketmembers 56 and 57 and has a conventional clutch device 58 positionedbetween the two sprockets and arranged to connect either one in drivingengagement with the screw. In the illustrated embodiment of theinvention, this device comprises a collar h afiixed to the lead screwhaving a pin 60 movable between the two sprockets to engage an aperturein either one selectively by lateral motion of a handle 61. A chain belt62 connects the sprocket member 57 to a like sprocket 63 affixed to theshaft 12, thus transmitting drive motion to the lead screw 53 when theclutch engages this sprocket, while another chain belt 64 connects thesprocket member 56 to a similar sprocket 65 secured to the sun gear 42,the chain belt 64 also being connected to a rewind motor 66.Consequently, when the clutch device 58 connects the sprocket member 56to the lead screw and the shaft 12 is held stationary, the rewind motor66 can drive the lead nuts on the three screws 36, 37, and 53 back totheir starting position without rotating the support plate 18 oroperating the compensating device 43.

In accordance with another feature of the present invention, variationsin the speed at which the wire 43 is drawn onto the frame member 21resulting from the oblong shape of the frame are compensated to preventvariations in tension which would occur if the variations in speed weretransmitted directly to the supply spool 44. For this purpose, thepulley 47 is mounted at one end of a block 67 slidably supported on themember by guides 68 and 69 and urged toward the drive shaft 12 by atension spring 70. As a result, a cam follower 71 at the other end ofthis block is pressed against the surface of .a rotary cam member 72afi'ixed to the drive shaft 12. The contour of the surface of the cammember 72 is derived from the varying rate of speed at which wire isdrawn through the aperture 52 so that the pulley 47 moves toward theshaft 12 taking in wire when the feed rate through the aperture is lowand is driven away from the shaft to let out wire when the frame drawswire more rapidly. As a result, wire is drawn from the spool 44 at auniform rate and substantially constant tension is maintained at alltimes.

If desired, a counter 73 may be mounted on the support member 11 to beactuated by motion of the compensator block 67, thus indicating thenumber of strands of wire wound onto the frame at any given time.

As previously mentioned, the wire guides 34 and 35 are designed to guidethe wire 43 around the end legs 32 and 33 of the frame member andposition it on the legs so that parallel strands 74 are supported inlaterally spaced relation in response to successive rotations of theframe member. To this end, as best seen in the enlarged illustration ofthe guide member 34 shown in FIG. 4, each of the guides comprises aguide cam 75 having a surface 76 contoured to hold the wire 43 in therequired position as it is wound around the end leg and a pickup arm 77arranged to intercept the wire as the frame rotates and guide it ontothe contour cam surface 76. Preferably, as described in theabove-mentioned application of Moe and Parks, Serial No. 721,124, theend legs 32 and 33 of the frame member 21 are provided with twolongitudinal notched ridges 78 and 7?, one on each side, each havingnotches at predetermined locations arranged to receive the wire 43 andhold the strands in parallel relation, the corresponding notches in allfour of the ridges being located at the same distance from one long endof the frame member so that all the strands are in parallel relationwith respect thereto. Each of the end legs of the frame member is alsoformed with two longitudinal grooves 80 in its outer periphery and thesereceive projecting corners 81 of the guide cam 75 to locate the guidesurface 76 with respect to the end leg and permit the guide member toslide along the leg.

As described above, the guide members 34 and 35 are driven along the endlegs 32 and 33 at a constant rate while the frame rotates providing apredetermined progression, for example, 0.020 inch during each rotation.However, in order to provide parallel strands of wire on the frame, thewire 43 must be located in four corresponding notches of the ridges 78and 79 on the two end legs, which are the same distance from the longside of the frame member during each rotation, and must then be shiftedlaterally a distance of 0.020 inch while passing around one end leg.Accordingly, the cam surface 76 of the guide member 34, shown in FIG. 4,is shaped to permit the wire to move longitudinally along the end leg 32a selected distance as it passes from the ridge 78 on one side of theleg to the ridge 79 on the other side of the same leg. Also, the camsurface of the other guide member 35 is shaped to prevent the wire frommoving longitudinally along the end leg as it passes around the leg fromone side to the other.

As best seen in FIG. 2, the outer end edge of each end leg is shaped sothat with the wire feed member spaced at a given distance from the axisof rotation of the frame member 21 the frame rotates approximately 120in passing the Wire around the leg from one notched ridge '78 to theother notched ridge 7Q. During this one-third portion of a rotation, theguide members 34 and 35 move along the end legs a distance of 0.0067inch in the typical example described herein. Consequently, the camsurface 76 of the guide member 34- must be shaped to permit the wire todrop back 0.0133 inch during this motion, thereby providing a totaldisplacement of the wire of 0.020 inch. At the other end of the frame,the cam surface of the guide member 35 is shaped toshift the wireforward a distance of 0.0067 inch as it passes around the end leg 33,thus preventing any difference between the location of the wire on theopposite sides of that end leg. As previously mentioned, notches areprovided in the ridges 78 and 79 to retain the wire in the desiredlocations once it has been positioned by the guide members.

In operation, the wire guide support arms 27 and 28 are swung apart anda frame member 21 is mounted on the support member 18 by securing itsfeet in the clamps 19 and 20. The arms 27 and 28 are then pivoted backso that the corners 31 of the guide cams engage the grooves of the endlegs. The free end of the wire 43, which has been threaded through themachine in the manner pre viously described, is secured to the outer endof one end leg of the frame member by any well known means, such as aclip (not shown). With the guide members 34 and 35 and the wire feedmember 51 at their extreme left hand positions, as viewed in FIG. 1, theclutch device 53 is set to connect the sprocket 57 to the lead screw 53.

With the machine in this condition, the drive motor 16 is energizedturning the drive wheel 15, the shaft 12, and the support member 18 inthe counterclockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 2. During eachrotation, the wire 43 is intercepted by the pickup arms 77 of the twoguide members 33 and 34 in succession guiding the wire on down to thecorresponding cam surfaces '76. At the same time, the lead screws 36 and37 are driven by rotation of the planetary gears 40 and 41, the sun gear42 being held stationary, while rotary motion is transmitted to the leadscrew 53 through the chain belt 62. As a result, the guide members 34and 35 and the feed member 51 progress to the right, as viewed in FIG.1, by 0.020 inch during each rotation, thus spacing the wire strands 74on the frame in the manner previously described, the cam surfaces beingeffective to permit the wire to shift laterally by 0.020 inch as itpasses around one end leg while preventing any lateral shift as the wirepasses around the other end leg.

During each half rotation, the compensating device 48, driven by therotary cam member 72, moves away from the pulleys 4d and 49 to let outwire when the frame member draws the wire at a high rate and recedesaway from the pulleys 46 and 49 to take in wire when it is being used ata low rate. As a result, the tension applied to the era wire by thehysteresis brake 45 is maintainted substantially constant at all times.When a frame has been, wound completely in this manner, it is removedfrom the support plate 18 and replaced by an empty frame. The clutchdevice 58 is then shifted to connect the sprocket 56 with the lead screw53 and the rewind motor 66 is energized. This turns the sprocket 56 andthe sun gear 42 in the proper direction to drive the feed device 51 andthe guide members 34 and 35 back to their extreme left hand positions,as viewed in FIG. 1, the shaft 12 being held stationary. When the rewindoperation is completed, the motor 66 is turned oif and the clutch 58shifted to reconnect the sprocket 57 with the lead screw 53.

Although the invention has been described herein with reference to aspecific embodiment, many modifications and variations therein will beapparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the invention is notintended to be restricted in scope except as defined by the followingclaims.

I claim:

1. A machine for winding wire on a frame member to provide a pluralityof parallel wire strands extending from one end of the frame member tothe other and laterally spaced by a predetermined distance comprisingframe sup port means for supporting a frame member for rotation about anaxis transverse to the longitudinal direction of wire strands to bemounted thereon, wire feed means for feeding wire toward the framemember from a point spaced from the axis of rotation of the framemember, and wire guide means movable with the frame member andpositioned adjacent to each end of the frame member adapted to pass thewire around both ends of the frame member with selected lateraldisplacements so that the wire strands on each side of the frame memberare spaced by the predetermined distance.

2. A machine for winding wire on a frame member to provide a pluralityof parallel wire strands extending from one end of the frame member tothe other and laterally spaced by a predetermined distance comprisingframe support means for supporting a frame member for rotation about anaxis transverse to the longitudinal direction of wire strands to bemounted thereon, wire feed means for feeding Wire toward the framemember from a point spaced from the axis of rotation, wire guide meansposi tioned adjacent to each end of the frame member and movable withthe frame member adapted to pass the wire around one end of the framemember without lateral displacement and to displace the wire laterallyby the predetermined distance as it passes around the opposite end ofthe frame member, and means for moving the guide means laterally alongthe ends of the frame member a distance equal to the predetermineddistance during each rotation of the frame member.

3. A machine according to claim 2 wherein the means for moving the guidemeans laterally comprises planetary gear means mounted on axes spacedfrom the center of rotation of the frame member and rotatable with theframe support means, normally stationary sun gear means and lead screwmeans connected to each planetary gear means and arranged to move theguide means along the ends of the frame member when rotated.

4. A machine for winding wire on a frame member to provide a pluralityof parallel wire strands extending from one end of the frame member tothe other and laterally spaced by a predetermined distance comprisingframe support means for supporting a frame member for rotation about anaxis transverse to the longitudinal direction of wire strands to bemounted thereon, wire feed means for feeding wire toward the framemember from a point spaced from the axis of rotation, wire guide meanspositioned adjacent to each end of the frame member and moveable withthe frame member adapted to pass the wire around one end of the framemember without lateral displacement and to displace the wire laterallyby the predetermined distance as it passes around the opposite end if ofhe frame member, means for moving the guide means laterally along theends of the frame member a distance equal to the predetermined distanceduring each rotation of the frame member, and means for moving the wirefeed means with respect to the frame member in conjunction with themotion of the guide means.

5. A machine for winding wire on a frame member to provide a pluralityof parallel wire strands extending from one end of the frame member tothe other and laterally spaced by a predetermined distance comprisingframe support means for supporting a frame member for rotation about anaxis transverse to the longitudinal direction of wire stands to bemounted thereon, wire feed means for feeding wire toward the framemember from a point spaced from the axis of rotation, wire supply meansarranged to supply a wire to the wire feed means, brake means connectedto the wire supply means to maintain a predetermined tension on the wirewhen the wire is drawn from the supply at a substantially constant rate,compensating means interposed between the wire supply means and the wirefeed means and responsive to rotation of the frame member to take inwire when the frame member draws wire at a low rate and to let out wirewhen the frame member draws wire at a higher rate, and wire guide meanspositioned adjacent to each end of the frame memher and movable with theframe member adapted to pass the wire around one end of the frame memberwithout lateral displacement and to displace the wire laterally by thepredetermined distance as it passes around the opposite end of the framemember.

6. A machine according to claim 5 wherein the compensating meanscomprises a pulley movable toward and away from the line of supply ofthe wire and rotary cam means arranged to rotate with the frame memberto drive the pulley.

7. A machine for winding wire on a frame member to provide a pluralityof parallel wire strands extending from one end of the frame member tothe other and laterally spaced by a predetermined distance comprisingframe support means for supporting a frame member for rotation about anaxis transverse to the longitudinal direction of wire strands to bemounted thereon, wire feed means for feeding wire toward the framemember from a point spaced from the axis of rotation, wire guide meansat each end of the frame member adapted to pass the wire around one endof the frame member without lateral displacement and to displace thewire laterally by the predetermined distance as it passes around theopposite end of the frame member, means for moving the guide meanslaterally along the ends of the frame member a distance equal to thepredetermined distance during each rotation of the frame member, guidesurface means in the wire guide means at one end of the frame membereffective during a selected portion of the rotation of the frame memberto shift the wire laterally on the end of the frame member with respectto the guide means by an amount equal to the lateral motion of the guidemeans along the end of the frame member and in the opposite direction,and guide surface means in the wire guide means at the other end of theframe member effective during a selected portion of the rotation of theframe memher to shift the wire laterally on the end of the frame memberwith respect to the guide means. by an amount equal to the differencebetween the predetermined distance and the lateral motion of the guidemeans along the end of the frame member and in the same direction as thelateral motion of the guide means.

8. A machine for winding wire on a frame member to provide a pluralityof parallel wire strands extending from one end of the frame member tothe other and laterally spaced by a predetermined distance comprisingframe support means for supporting a frame member for rotation about anaxis transverse to the longitudinal direction of wire strands to bemounted thereon, wire feed means for feeding wire toward the framemember from a point spaced from the axis of rotation, wire guide meansat each end of the frame member adapted to pass the wire around one endof the frame member without lateral displacement and to displace thewire laterally by the predetermined distance as it passes around theopposite end of the frame member, planetary gear means mounted on axesspaced from the center of rotation of the frame member and rotatablewith the frame support means, normally stationary sun gear means, leadscrew means connected to each planetary gear means and arranged to movethe guide means along the ends of the frame member by a distance equalto the predetermined distance during each rotation, and rewind meansarranged to drive the sun gear means to move the guide means in theopposite direction while the frame support means is held stationary.

8 9. A machine according to claim 8 including additional lead screwmeans normally linked to the frame support means arranged to drive thewire feed means in conjunction with the guide means, and clutch meansarranged to disconnect the additional lead screw means from the framesupport means and to conneot it to the rewind means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,448,980 Schmutz Mar. 20, 1923 1,944,581 Snyder Jan. 23, 1934 1,987,079Rosenmund Jan. 8, 1937 2,554,855 Creed May 29, 1951

